The Goblin King
by Artemis45187
Summary: Loosely, LOOSELY based on Labyrinth. Only real connections would be girl, who wishes away sibling and meets the Goblin King. And she has a time limit and stuff to get her sister, yeah, sister, back from the goblin king while going through trials and stuff. Also, the name of my Goblin King belongs to babykittys, but she stole the character from ME...just thought I'd clear that up...
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time…no…that's not quite right. Though, if it's not that, then how does this story begin? How does one begin a story to fantastical to be real, but too real and solid to be fantastical? Where even would the story itself begin?When the Goblin King first saw me? Maybe when we first met and he at least somewhat fell in love with my young self and gave me the promise that if I ever called, he'd be there to do my bidding, whatever it was that I wished at the time? Or perhaps later, when we meet again, when I have no recollection of having ever met him before? Yes, that sounds about right.

My story begins with a girl, completely in love with the idea of the fantastical, a girl who lived and breathed magic, or at least that of books and movies. Obviously, this is my story. The story of my meeting the Goblin King, and what became of that meeting. Do NOT confuse this story with Labyrinth. The chick in that movie was an idiot, who made all the wrong choices and said the wrong things. She was stupid and absolutely NOTHING like me. I suppose I should stop ranting and get on with the actual story now, shouldn't I?

It all started on my seventeenth birthday. I was sitting in my room, reading my latest addition to my fantasy book collection and listening to a new song I'd purchased from iTunes with my cat, Lestat de Lioncourt (Lestat for short). Should've been a happy day, right? I mean, birthdays are supposed to be all about the birthday girl/boy, right? Well, not this year and not for this girl. NEVER for this girl, unfortunately.

The book I was reading and song I was listening to I'd had to buy with my own money. All birthday plans got thrown out the window when my older sister got sick. She'd been sick this whole week. Now, yeah, my sister getting sick wasn't good, but you'd be a bit bitter too if this happened every time she got sick. Months of planning would be thrown away and forgotten just because big sis had the sniffles. Whenever I went to mention it to my parents, they'd always say something along the lines of 'oh, you're being so selfish' or 'how can you talk about that kind of thing when your sister is so ill?'

I hated it. I was the problem child and my sister was the angel. Never mind that I got perfect grades, did my chores, and more or less kept to myself by not making waves while my sister would go out drinking and come home with DUI's and speeding tickets. If that wasn't bad enough, she never had the money to pay for them, so mom and dad would generously give her the cash, which they'd been planning on using for something else, that she needed for the tickets. The worst of it is she's nineteen. She shouldn't even be drinking. But nooo I'm the bad one because I choose to express myself through dark clothes, dark poetry, fictional books, listening to rock and metal music from any era, and hanging out at Goth clubs.

I think part of the reason they hated me was the fact that I'm pale and have dark hair and green eyes, like my mom's sister. Not that Aunt Alice and my dad ever had an affair; I just didn't look the way they wanted me to look. My sister, on the other hand, was blond, blue eyed, and tan, just like them. She had a bubbly personality, bordering on airhead, or at least used to. No longer was she the sweet, yet stupid sister. Now she was mean and manipulative, caring only about herself and what she wanted. She smiled a lot with her perfect white teeth and wore borderline slut clothes when neither mom nor dad could see her. She always brought home the 'nice' men that only got horny when the 'oldies,' as they oftencalled mom and dad, left the room. I always brought home guy friends that wanted to either compare poetry, needed help coming up with lyrics for some song they were writing, wanted to play gory video games, or all three. Mom always walked in at the oddest times when they were over. I actually think she wanted to catch me doing something dirty, so I seemed more like a 'normal' girl. She was sorely disappointed.

I glanced at my watch, specially ordered, kind of old fashioned and cliché. It has skeleton arms in place of clock hands with a spider web as a background as the spider sits directly in the middle. The numbers were grinning skulls with glowing dots on their foreheads. I figured it was about time to go remind the people who created me, through means I'd rather not think about happening between them, that it was the day of my birth, and they did have some form of duty to me, whether they liked it or not.

I shut my book and pulled off my headphones, another cliché, bought from some anime site for Soul Eater, shaped like the skull headphones Justin Lawhas a habit of wearing. I stood up and smoothed my deep red skirt. I'm not normally privy to skirts, but on occasion when I'm looking to seriously annoy my parents, I'll go ultra-Goth. Skirts, corsets, and lacy old century crap. It really freaks them out, and they normally do whatever they have to to get me out of their sight. I wasn't quite all decked out, but it was enough to deeply disturb them. I motioned fo rLestat to follow me and walked out of my room, headed for the stairs. I stop at the top, compose myself, and then start down.

As I clomped down the stairs, I could hear my mother cooing to my sister that 'everything would be OK.' I rolled my eyes as I hit the bottom floor. My mother jerked around as my boot scollided heavily with the floor. She slowly took in my loose pony-tail held by a blood red ribbon, my black eyeshadow and lipstick, the long cross earrings dangling from my ears, the black leather jacket I was wearing, my skirt, and my big, black boots. Then her gaze snapped back up to my neck, where a necklace lay with a jeweled sword pendant. I self-consciously grabbed it. I'd had it for as long as I could remember, yet my parents had no clue where it came from. They claimed I'd just shown up one day after school with it on, and I'd refused to take it off. Lestat showed up a few years after that. Apparently, all bad things come in twos, or so my parents must think. Said cat was currently curling himself around my legs.

"What did you want, Bast?" she asked. The only, and I mean ONLY, cool thing about my parents is that they're obsessed with mythology, to the point of my father being a college proffesor about it, and my mother making money off tons of books about it. I was named after the Egyptian cat goddess, while my perky sister was named after the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. Go figure.

Speaking of Aphro, she was currently 'wilting' on the super expensive couch. We're not rich, but we do have money. So states all the expensive furniture and electronics that I swear have no meaning other than to sit somewhere and look important. I think it's all rather dull and boring.

"In case you forgot," I started dryly, "today is my birthday."

"No it's not. It's still a week away."

"Mom, since you obviously didn't get the memo, today is Halloween, therefor, today is my birthday." Yes, I was born on Halloween. It rocks.

"What? It can't be!" she exclaimed. She shot out of the room in search of her phone to confirm what I was already telling her. I was actually amazed to see her moving so quickly for something that had to do with me. She returned about a minute later, her face white.

"I'm so sorry, Bast. Your father and I completely forgot what day it is. I promise we'll make it up to you."

"Yeah, when?"

"Don't you use that tone of voice with me," she countered sharply. "We have been very busy with your sister. She's very sick and needs every moment of attention we can afford her…which doesn't…include tonight." She winced slightly and got a sheepish look on her face. I felt my eyes widen and my jaw go slack. They expected me to look after my sister! A starving tiger I could understand, but my sister? Were they insane? It was then that I noticed that my mother was wearing her most expensive dress, her diamond earrings and necklace, and her best shoes.

"Oh, no! No! I will NOT look after Aphro tonight. She hates me!"

"Don't call your sister that! Now, your father has a big dinner tonight, and a lot of important people are going to be there. He wants me to go with him. I can hardly say no. Please, will you for once in your life do what you're told to do?"

"What the hell else have I been doing? Oh, I guess it's not like I've gotten perfect grades all my life and more or less keep this house clean! Nope, never done that before, have I? Yes, I'm the problem child. _I'm_ the one who goes drinking. _I_bring home guys who knock me up so we have to go to an abortion clinic. _I_ sleep with my teachers to get my grades up. Yes mom, it's been me, NOT Aphro whose done all those things. Yes, you caught _me_ all those times."

"BAST!" Lestat hissed at her tone. My mother flinched.

"Do you know what? Fine. I'll look after priss. If I kill her though, it's your fault."

"Bast-"

"No, just go, have your fun. I'll stay home and play mom to the older sister. Go, GO! Not like I have life."

"Bast, now that's not fair."

"Oh, it isn't? Fine then, what's fair? Huh? WHAT…IS…_FAIR_? You say that to me all the time, I wonder what your basis for comparison is?"

"Stop yelling at me." Her lips started to tremble. I could not believe she was going to start crying.

"What is going on down here?" My father came storming down the stairs,

"Bast is getting an attitude because we want her to look after her sister for a few hours." My father's eyes snapped to me. He did the same as my mother, looking me over, and then pausing on the necklace. I stood my ground.

"Ugh," my sister groaned behind us. Mom and dad literally flew to her side. I rolled my eyes.

She gave a weak, fake sounding cough. "Please don't leave me," she pleaded.

"Oh honey, we have to. Bast will take care of you, though. We'll only be gone for a few hours, and then we'll be back."

"Ok." She gave them a 'strong' smile.

They fussed with her for a bit more, getting assured that she was really ok. Then they came and threatened to kill me if I didn't do every little thing my sister told me to do and a warning to keep my cat in line after he hissed at them. They then proceeded to go upstairs to finish getting ready. I was left alone with my pathetic, 'dying' sister.


	2. Chapter 2

"There's no way that one of your requests would be for me to put you out of your misery, is there?"

"Nope," she answered sweetly, not sounding sick at all.

"Damn. Didn't think so, but you never know if you don't ask." I replied snidely, crossing my arms.

A while later our parents came back downstairs. They lavished Aphrodite with kisses and hugs which she 'weakly' tried to dissuade because they'd 'catch' what she had. Then they stiffly said goodbye to me and walked out the door. I stared after them for a moment. Suddenly I heard movement behind me.

"Are they gone?" Aphrodite was sitting up on the couch looking fresh as a friggen daisy, craning her neck to see past me. Lestat jumped up on the couch, further hindering her view.

"Yes, O weak dying one. Your protectors, sworn to keep you safe in your frail health have left you with the evil witch."

"Oh, shut up. You at least should have been able to tell that I was faking." She impatiently pushed Lestat off the couch and started fluffing her hair up. She then pulled a compact out of the front of her too tight short shorts and began applying makeup.

"Obviously. I think the only one's who were fooled were our parents. And they call themselves professors," I said scathingly.

My sister's eyes flicked up to look at me for a second, an amused look tugging at her mouth, before she returned to her life, aka, her mirror. Suddenly, she said, "Hey, I need you to get my costume."

"What costume?" I asked, confused. She wasn't one to wait until Halloween to get one. She always had to have all her holiday things WEEKS before the date of whatever it happened to be.

"A costume that I ordered a little while ago from The Little Devil costume store downtown," she replied calmly, looking for any 'missed' spots on her face, and apparently finding some.

"I'm not going there!" The Little Devil was a new costume shop that sold really sleazy costumes that they proclaimed were 'sexy.' I avoided the place like the plague. It was SO not a place I was comfortable around, and there was no way she was going to get me in that store.

She froze in mid application and turned a frosty eye on me, then turned it into an acid smile. "'Oh, mommy, daddy, Bast didn't get me my robe. I was getting a bit cold, but not enough for more blankets.'" She added a bit of weak coughing here for effect. "'I begged her for it, but she said her video games were too important and went upstairs…'" Her eyes started to water with fake tears. I glared at her, and she laughed, tears gone. "Now," she started as she went back to applying make-up, "costume."

"…no."

"No?" She slowly turned her head back to stare at me with a look of very well faked surprise. "Why ever not? I ordered one for you too, you know. I thought we could have a little costume party like we used to when we were kids…only this one would include Chester…but that doesn't matter, does it? It'll be a ton of fun." This time her face looked completely genuine. I was amazed.

"What kind of costume is it? That you got me, that is?"

Aphrodite smiled. "Oh, that's a surprise. You won't know until you get it."

I raised an eyebrow at her. Did she honestly think I didn't know what kind of costumes waited in that shop?

She caught my expression and sighed. "Look Bast, contrary to what is said about The Little Devil, they have more than the perverse costumes everyone assumes is the only thing in the store. I swear the costume I ordered for you will suit you perfectly." She smiled warmly again, almost too sweetly, but I didn't want to see under the gilded image. I just wanted to have fun with my sister again, so I ignored all the little warning bells ringing in my head.

"O…ok. I'll go get them." She smiled again and, with a high pitched laugh, threw her arms around me.

"THANKS! I knew I could count on you!" She gave me a quick kiss on the forehead and beamed down at me. "I've got to getready; Chester will be here any minute!"

This Chester that keeps coming up must be her new boyfriend. I wasn't looking foreword to meeting him. None of her boyfriends were ever kind in the least, just as cruel and hurtful as she herself often was to me. They took advantage of me, by blackmail, threats, and also placing blame where blame was _not _due.

She smiled at my obvious distaste at meeting this Chester person as she restarted putting makeup on where she left off. Why she seemed to always take forever applying makeup, I never understood. I'm not anti-makeup, but I'm certainly not so into it that I have to spend hours doing and redoing my face.

"Just wait, Hun. _Eventually_," she put heavy emphasis on 'eventually', "you'll have someone who will put up with even you!" She laughed at her own cruel humor. I went into a kind of shock after that comment. She had just been being so nice, and now she was being cruel again. It felt like I had just gone from being in front of a blazing fire to being dumped in a frigid lake. I blinked back tears as I ran out the door. Lestat yowled after me, but I kept running.

The night air was cool on my burning cheeks. I wanted to run, and just keep running, but I knew I couldn't. I slowed to a walk once I reached the main road and watched little kids running around, laughing at their bags of candy and the costumes of their friends. I smiled sadly to myself, glad at least someone was happy on my birthday, even if that someone wasn't me.


	3. Chapter 3

As I walked, my mind drifted back to happier times, before clothes, money, boys, and the need to be popular ruled my sister's life. Happy Halloweens where I'd get to go out and trick-or-treat for an hour with my big sister, and then we'd come home to cake, ice cream, presents, happy faces, and friends. A time when there was laughter instead of threats, hugs instead of cynical comments, love instead of hate.

I felt hot tears start to run down my face and I snapped myself back to the present, and continued on my way.

The costume store was in the middle of town. You may be wondering why I'm not driving, but I don't have a car. And my parents don't trust me with theirs, and even if they did, they took it, so, no car for me. Luckily the town we live in isn't that big. We did live on the outskirts of the town, but I could walk that far. I might not have been ultra active, but I had some stamina.

Another thing I like about Halloween is that no one stares at me when I walk around. They just think I'm in costume and go about their business. It's really kind of a relief. Though most people think that dressing dark is just to make you stand out, it isn't always. I like dressing the way I do cause I like the style. I'm not trying to be different. I just am. I'd almost rather I wasn't. I don't like attention, so, all the attention you get being 'Goth' really sucks.

A little girl wearing a pink princess dress with sparkles and wings and the whole shebang walked up to me suddenly. She studied me for a moment, a look of confusion and extreme concentration on her face. I didn't know her, but I knew what she was going to ask, probably before she even knew it herself.

"What are you supposed to be?" she asked innocently.

I thought about my response. What I decided to say would probably confuse the poor kid, but I couldn't help it, I had to say it. See if I could convince this 'princess' that she didn't have to sit in her castle waiting for help to come all the time when she got older, that she could rescue herself. "I'm a princess."

She smiled cutely. "No you're not! You're not wearing a dress or crown or magic slippers, or even wings! And you're not wearing pretty colors."

"Who says I have to? And what colors _should_ I be wearing?"

"That's what princess's wear, silly! You should wear white or pink or blue or yellow."

"Well, not this princess. I wear black and red. I don't really like dresses, but I like skirts. Crowns leave weird dents in my hair, and magic slippers and wings just cause so many problems. Do you know how painful it is to walk around everywhere in thin slippers everyday? It's not pleasant."

"Well, they're fun to wear sometimes!"

I smiled. "Yeah, ok, _sometimes._ Just remember when you get older that you don't have to be the princess everyone may tell you you have to be. They might say it's the only way to be a true princess, but if you're a TRUE princess, it won't matter what you wear or how you act, you'll still be a princess, k?"

"Ok!" She flashed me a big, holey smile, and ran off the call of who I assumed to be her mother. I watched her get scolded a bit, before she lost interest and ran off in search of a new house. The mother shook her head and headed after her.

I had to smile. The little girl was still so innocent. It made me sad to think about what she'd become in a few years. Or maybe she'd be ok. I could always hope. There were always a few who avoided getting sucked into society's 'perfection' spiel.

I continued on my way. No more kids tried to accost me, thankfully. I saw some people from school, but they ignored me, like they usually did. The Halloween decorations were as elaborate as usual. They made my night a little bit better.

Hitting the center of town, nothing really changed. There were still a ton of people running around, and Halloween decorations everywhere. The main difference was that there was a lot more light. And there was a lot more traffic.

After nearly getting run over for the millionth time, I got to The Little Devil. The sign above the costume shop portrayed a cartoonish female in a devil costume. It was disturbing.

Pushing open the doors caused a little bell to ding. It seemed a bit old fashioned for such a new store. The store itself was bright as day, the shiny, racy costumes sparkling in the light. As I made my way to the counter, I tried not to touch any of the costumes. I was afraid I'd get some strange flesh-eating disease.

The girl at the counter, wearing the devil costume portrayed by the cartoon, gave me a smile that became just a bit tighter and more forced when she took in my looks. She was very blond, and had very white teeth, accented by her blood red lipstick. The lipstick did nothing for her except make her face look pale.

"How can I help you this devilish evening?" Her voice matched her looks. It was high pitched, squeaky, and annoying. Just what I wanted to deal with tonight.

"Um, my sister ordered a costume here? Why she's just now wanting it is beyond me, but, whatever."

"Ok!" She was so _perky._ "Name?"

"Aphrodite." I never bothered to tell people our last names, unless they asked for them specifically. I mean, really, who's going to have the name 'Aphrodite' or 'Bast?'

"Oh _yes. _I remember her being in here. I'm assuming you're Bast then?"

"Yes… Why?"

"She ordered something very _special_ for you. She expressly said that we had to give you your _gift _before you grabbed her costume."

I didn't like her tone. Or the smile that was curling over her face. It made her look like a predator, and, like prey, my first thought was to flee. She beckoned for me to follow her. If I hadn't still been stuck wishing for the things my sister promised for tonight, I would've bolted. I wish I had.

She led me around the counter and to a back room. She opened the door to reveal pure darkness. The uneasy feeling I had was sending ice down my spine. Every nerve in my body was screaming for me to run away, at least to NOT go into that room.

"It's right in here," the perky worker said.

"Is there a light anywhere?" I asked, my voice somehow not betraying my fear.

"Nope, sorry, but it's right inside, don't worry." She sounded gleeful, NOT sorry.

"Ok…"

Against my better judgment, I entered the room. The door slammed shut behind me suddenly, causing me to jump. I spun around and tried to open the door, but it was locked. It suddenly opened violently, and I was thrown back. I tripped over something as the force of the door caused me to stumble a few feet backwards.

I landed in some kind of large tub, and found myself soaked in a sticky substance. I didn't have time to investigate it, as a sound above my head caused me to look blindly up into the darkness. I felt myself get covered in something soft and light. Whatever it was just kept falling.

Scared and confused, I pulled myself out of the tub and crawled in the direction I hoped was the door. Finding it, not bothering to get up, I started banging on it and yelling for the chick to let me out. Every few minutes I'd stop and listen for footsteps, or any sign of someone coming to save me. No one came.

Eventually I stopped pounding and just cried. I had no idea what was going on, or what was on me and I wanted to go home. I felt more betrayed by my sister then I ever had before. I couldn't stand it anymore. I was also starting to get a killer headache, and that just made me cry harder.

The door suddenly cracked open, and the girl from the counter poked her head in.

"Still alive in here?"

I just looked at her. I couldn't believe my ears. That was all she cared about? I was sitting in pure darkness, bawling my eyes out, and all she cared about was whether or not I was alive?

I stood up faster than I ever had before, and shoved my way past her. In the light, even though it was blinding me, I could finally see what was on me. I was covered from head to toe in glue and feathers.

From behind me came, "Isn't your costume just perfect? It _totally_ fits you, don't you think, _loser?_"

Turning around, I just stared. I couldn't believe people could be this mean, especially to people that they didn't know. What right did she have to do this to me? How dare she?!

My fury built, and before I knew it, I had lashed out and punched her in the face. She screamed and fell on her ass, holding her face. It was her turn to look at me in shock. I just glared at her.

"You BITCH!" she shrieked at me.

I just turned away as she continued to scream obscenities at me. The store's layout was simple, so I quickly found the exit. As I opened the doors, I had an ill-fated run in with some girls from my class…who were also on the yearbook committee.

They stopped and gawked at me. One of them, I'd never bothered to learn their names, I didn't care, pulled out her phone and said snidely as she snapped a picture, "Guess what's going in the yearbook!" The other crowed.

Turning red, I ran off in the direction of home.


	4. Chapter 4

Getting home seemed to take both more and less time then it had taken to get to The Little Devil. Tears were streaming down my face again as I walked up to the front door and I fully took in what my sister had done to me. The girl at the shop might have executed the orders, but it was my sister that came up with the plan in the first place, I just knew it. It was just like her. Never doing anything on her own, but using pawns to cause others pain

My hate retuned as I forcefully threw the door open. Inside, I found my sister giggling as a guy, her new bf, I assumed, felt her up. She let out a shriek when she saw me, which dissolved into vicious laughter. The boy, who looked like he might have two brain cells, if he was lucky, just looked at me stupidly and then started laughing in a gross, annoying laugh.

"Get out," I forced out through gritted teeth, pointing out the open door

His laughter stopped. "What?" He sounded as stupid as he looked.

"Get…out."

"Hey, who the fuck-"

"GET OUT!" I screamed at him. "Get out. Get out! GET OUT!" Something in my eyes or voice must have scared him, because he jumped up and ran out. I slammed the door shut behind him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" My sister, who I noticed HAD a costume, was staring at me in angry shock.

"'What the hell do I?' WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!" I gestured at my 'costume.'

Aphrodite stared at me blankly for a moment. "What? Oh, that. I thought it would be funny, which it _was._ Jeeze, calm down."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN?!" I had hit my breaking point. I couldn't deal with it anymore. Lestat crept up quietly and meowed at me.

Aphrodite let out a huff, crossed her arms, and looked away. I gave a small scream of frustration, and looked down at my cat. He was staring up at me, with a strange, almost human expression on his face. His sapphire eyes seemed to glow, and I found myself mesmerized.

_Do you want her gone? _A quiet voice asked.

_What? Who are you?_ I asked.

_Do you want her gone? _The voice repeated.

_Yes._

_Then remember what I told you._

In a haze, I started muttering words that came from deep within my subconscious. "**You who hath caused my heart pain, you are no longer wanted or needed. I want your presence no longer. I send my plea to the one who rules the world of magic, the king of the goblins, the Goblin King. Thou who gave me these words, I beg of thee, take this pain away from me!**"

The room suddenly exploded in a bright light. My sister screamed and a gust of wind ripped around the room, silencing her. I started to fly back into the door, when what felt like a hand grabbed my arm. Items in the room started to fly around. It was a mass of chaos.

When it all cleared, my sister was gone, and a strange boy stood in the room, one hand gripping my arm. He released it quickly, and took a few steps back. He had pitch black hair, sapphire blue eyes, a pale complexion, and looked like he was around my age. He was wearing a black, silk-looking, v-neck shirt with black pants to match.

"Who are you?"

"You still don't remember me?" His voice held a hint of sadness.

"No…I think I would if I'd ever met you before. You don't look very forgettable." My face burned after saying that. I didn't know where it had come from. Remembering what I had on me, my face burned brighter.

"That was a cruel joke your sister played on you," the strange boy said, as if he had read my mind. He snapped his fingers and the glue and feathers were suddenly gone.

"How…how…"

"I should probably tell you who I am, since you still can't remember me. My name is Zalenakis, and I'm the Goblin King."

I started laughing. "The what?"

"Do you truly doubt it after my little trick? I thought you prided yourself on being smarter than that." My laughter ceased, and I bit my lip. He was right in that account. I usually wasn't one to try and rationalize things, yet here I was, doing exactly that.

"Ok, so you're the Goblin King. Cool. Where's my sister?"

"Gone. Just as you wished."

"Right, well, I kinda need her back. Not exactly sure how to explain her disappearance, so just bring her back, and go back to wherever you came from. Sorry for summoning you, it was not my intention. I didn't need your help. I'm good." I looked around. "Where's my cat."

"Here."

"Where here?"

"You really don't understand anything, do you?" His face was a mask of sadness. Regardless, it pissed me off. This was NOT my night, I didn't need some 'Goblin King' being a pain just because I couldn't figure out where my cat was.

"Do NOT fuck with me right now. I just had glue and feathers dumped on me, was locked in a room for who knows how long, and was ridiculed by my sister because she couldn't understand why I was so mad. WHERE. IS. MY. CAT?!"

The boy, Zalenakis, said nothing for a moment, and then, "Happy birthday, Bast. I hope things get easier from now on. If I could've done anything to help before now, I would've, but you never asked. And as the years went by, you forgot about me. I always wished the best for you, though." His eyes dropped to my necklace. "Well, at least one thing remained, and through it, you can always find me."

He suddenly vanished, and the room was back in its original order.


End file.
